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255
that rioting in the city was rampant in 1831
with a number of “ unruly negroes put to
death.” He recounted that in 1831, the heads
of men killed because of supposed ties to
slave insurrection conspiracies were placed
on pikes in conspicuous areas as a warning
to others “ bent upon stirring up racial
tensions.” 87
Wilmington’s Riot and Racial Clashes in
the South
Racial tensions and explosions of
violence directed against African Americans
were not uncommon in the South at the turn
of the twentieth century. The fear and
actuality of slave uprisings prior to the Civil
War and the growth of spontaneous lynch
mobs of the late 19th century created a cult
of violence. Although clashes between
more than one black and more than one
white have been called race riots, historian
Paul Gilje has sought to clarify the term and
the overall phenomenon of rioting in the
United States. Gilje defined a “ riot” as “ any
group of twelve or more people attempting
to assert their will immediately through the
use of force outside the normal bounds of
law.” 88 Gilje further noted that the first race
riots were white invasions of African
American communities but, after World War
II, African Americans used the riot as a tool
to vent their frustration with failures in
social, political and economic progress.
However, Gilje and other historians have
noted that white rioters killed blacks while
destroying black property and that such riots
87 Another interesting oral tradition is that there were
truly guns in the basement of St. Stephen’s AMEC
Church. The tradition holds that the weapons were
stored in a concealed entrance to an underground
tunnel or crawlspace created beneath the church by
members who constructed the building. Hayden,
“ Introduction to the Wilmington Rebellion,” 35- 36.
88 Paul Gilje, Rioting in America ( Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1996), 4.
were followed by a suppression of the black
voice in politics and the media whereas
black rioters usually only destroyed white
property and their actions rarely led to
bloodshed. 89 In order to distinguish
between the two types of upheavals,
historian H. Leon Prather suggested
alternative and more appropriate labels for
the racial clashes of the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century: massacre, pogrom,
or race war. 90
Wilmington’s riot followed a model
of white invasion into black neighborhoods,
loss of black property, and the deaths of
black citizens plus the creation of a virtually
silent African American population.
Wilmington’s riot was the first of its kind in
the industrial age although there were scores
of lynchings taking place throughout the
South each year. Prior to 1898, three
noteworthy race riots took place in the
South. Of these, two were in 1866 in
response to Reconstruction woes in
Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans and
the third, in Danville, Virginia in 1883,
occurred much as Wilmington’s riot –
during election season and in response to
attempts by blacks to exercise their full
rights as citizens in public spaces. 91
89 Charles Crowe, “ Racial Massacre in Atlanta
September 22, 1906,” Journal of Negro History 54
( April 1969): 150; Gilje, Rioting in America, pg. 155.
90 In discussion of November 10, 1898 in
Wilmington, Prather has also added the term, coup
d’etat to the lexicon. In his groundbreaking study of
the riot, We Have Taken a City, Prather argued that
the violence and resignations of the Board of
Aldermen under duress constituted nothing less than
an armed takeover of the city’s government. H. Leon
Prather, “ Race Riots,” in Encyclopedia of Southern
Culture, ed. by Charles Reagan Wilson and William
Ferris ( Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1989): pg. 1496.
91 Gilge, Rioting in America, 96- 7; James G.
Hollandsworth, Jr., An Absolute Massacre: The New
Orleans Race Riot of July 30, 1866 ( Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 2001); Jane Dailey,
“ Deference and Violence in the Postbellum Urban
South: Manners and Massacres in Danville,

255
that rioting in the city was rampant in 1831
with a number of “ unruly negroes put to
death.” He recounted that in 1831, the heads
of men killed because of supposed ties to
slave insurrection conspiracies were placed
on pikes in conspicuous areas as a warning
to others “ bent upon stirring up racial
tensions.” 87
Wilmington’s Riot and Racial Clashes in
the South
Racial tensions and explosions of
violence directed against African Americans
were not uncommon in the South at the turn
of the twentieth century. The fear and
actuality of slave uprisings prior to the Civil
War and the growth of spontaneous lynch
mobs of the late 19th century created a cult
of violence. Although clashes between
more than one black and more than one
white have been called race riots, historian
Paul Gilje has sought to clarify the term and
the overall phenomenon of rioting in the
United States. Gilje defined a “ riot” as “ any
group of twelve or more people attempting
to assert their will immediately through the
use of force outside the normal bounds of
law.” 88 Gilje further noted that the first race
riots were white invasions of African
American communities but, after World War
II, African Americans used the riot as a tool
to vent their frustration with failures in
social, political and economic progress.
However, Gilje and other historians have
noted that white rioters killed blacks while
destroying black property and that such riots
87 Another interesting oral tradition is that there were
truly guns in the basement of St. Stephen’s AMEC
Church. The tradition holds that the weapons were
stored in a concealed entrance to an underground
tunnel or crawlspace created beneath the church by
members who constructed the building. Hayden,
“ Introduction to the Wilmington Rebellion,” 35- 36.
88 Paul Gilje, Rioting in America ( Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1996), 4.
were followed by a suppression of the black
voice in politics and the media whereas
black rioters usually only destroyed white
property and their actions rarely led to
bloodshed. 89 In order to distinguish
between the two types of upheavals,
historian H. Leon Prather suggested
alternative and more appropriate labels for
the racial clashes of the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century: massacre, pogrom,
or race war. 90
Wilmington’s riot followed a model
of white invasion into black neighborhoods,
loss of black property, and the deaths of
black citizens plus the creation of a virtually
silent African American population.
Wilmington’s riot was the first of its kind in
the industrial age although there were scores
of lynchings taking place throughout the
South each year. Prior to 1898, three
noteworthy race riots took place in the
South. Of these, two were in 1866 in
response to Reconstruction woes in
Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans and
the third, in Danville, Virginia in 1883,
occurred much as Wilmington’s riot –
during election season and in response to
attempts by blacks to exercise their full
rights as citizens in public spaces. 91
89 Charles Crowe, “ Racial Massacre in Atlanta
September 22, 1906,” Journal of Negro History 54
( April 1969): 150; Gilje, Rioting in America, pg. 155.
90 In discussion of November 10, 1898 in
Wilmington, Prather has also added the term, coup
d’etat to the lexicon. In his groundbreaking study of
the riot, We Have Taken a City, Prather argued that
the violence and resignations of the Board of
Aldermen under duress constituted nothing less than
an armed takeover of the city’s government. H. Leon
Prather, “ Race Riots,” in Encyclopedia of Southern
Culture, ed. by Charles Reagan Wilson and William
Ferris ( Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Press, 1989): pg. 1496.
91 Gilge, Rioting in America, 96- 7; James G.
Hollandsworth, Jr., An Absolute Massacre: The New
Orleans Race Riot of July 30, 1866 ( Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 2001); Jane Dailey,
“ Deference and Violence in the Postbellum Urban
South: Manners and Massacres in Danville,